Mike Slater proudly hails from Skaneateles, N.Y., a small town outside of Syracuse. While swimming independently for a neighboring high school, Slater earned two state championships in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke and four All-American mentions.
To date his backstroke "prowess has eluded him" in college, but because of his versatility he now swims a strong breaststroke at Yale. Most recently, he defended the sanctity of the Robert J.H. Kiphuth pool in the 200 Breaststroke against Harvard and Princeton at last year's HYP meet. Assistant Coach Tim Wise calls him "Slacker" Slater, but Mike points out that "this is because of the remarkable phenomenon known as alliteration" and not because "it is in any way a correct descriptive term."
Other than hanging out with the team, Slater enjoys "raising hell at liberal strongholds" with his pen writing editorials for the Yale Daily News and other campus publications. He is a tour guide for the Visitors' and Admissions Center because he likes to tell people that Yale is "awesome." Mike is also a student representative for the Standing Committee on Athletics. His other loves include "life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and everything American." In general, he tries to keep the team GPA high and win some races. He is honored to be a part of the Yale Swimming family.